Ribe Cathedral

Ribe Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of Our Lady Maria, stands at the heart of Ribe, Denmark's oldest and best-preserved medieval town on the west coast of southern Jutland. It is the country's oldest cathedral, founded back in the Viking Age as the first Christian church in Denmark by the missionary monk Ansgar, and the present building was begun around 1134. Constructed in Romanesque style with later Gothic additions, its weathered walls and towers rise above the tightly packed streets and squares of the old town, dominating the skyline for miles across the flat marshland. Climbing the so-called Citizen's Tower, all 248 steps of it, rewards visitors with a spectacular panorama over the surrounding meadows and out toward the Wadden Sea, the vast tidal landscape that shapes this whole corner of Denmark. Inside, the cathedral holds unique works of art spanning many centuries, including the famous Cat Head Door with its carved panel from around 1175 and a richly detailed altarpiece, along with modern decorations that sit surprisingly well beside the ancient stone. The cathedral's bells have rung out over Ribe for close to 900 years, and the building remains an active church as well as a monument to the town's extraordinary history. A visit pairs naturally with a wander through Ribe's cobbled lanes and half-timbered houses. In summer it is well worth staying into the evening to join the town's night watchman on his traditional round, which brings the medieval atmosphere of Ribe vividly to life.